Stand Up for Education!

The good news: The Senate economic recovery bill is slightly better for education than the &ldquo;compromise&rdquo; proposed last week, so educators&rsquo; phone calls and e-mails made a difference.

The bad news: The Senate version still spends billions less on education than the House bill, so we can&rsquo;t let up now!

The differences will be resolved in a House-Senate conference committee, probably by Friday, February 13.

Please ask your Massachusetts members of Congress right now to urge conference committee members to push for the House education spending plan. Just go to www.massteacher.org/congress to send your messages.

The Senate package includes $1.13 billion less than the House bill for education in Massachusetts over two years. (There is $1.41 billion in the Senate bill versus $2.54 billion in the House legislation.) One vital difference is that the Senate bill provides nothing for modernizing schools and public higher education facilities, while the House bill would give Massachusetts hundreds of millions of dollars for badly needed renovations and construction projects.

Our message is:

Support the House education spending plan &ndash; it&rsquo;s better for communities, the economy and our students.

Investment in education stimulates the economy immediately by saving and creating jobs.

Education funding reaches every community in the nation and is targeted to those areas with the greatest needs.

Spending on education is an investment in the future as well as a short-term stimulus, and therefore is a win-win for the economy.